JourneyPen Offerings
The Journeypen Project has a few types of offerings here, and I wanted to give you a quick orientation so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for.
Collections
I’ve collected a lot of my shorter content here. After many years of blogs, social media, etc., I’ve started to organize these short pieces so that they’re easy for others to access.
Investment: your attention and your discernment.
Creative Toolbox.
This is my kit of loose creative tools. As of Spring 2022, I’m still migrating over the older content from other sites, following along with the “Journeying through the Creative Project” series, but I do add to it fairly frequently.
Renewing Capacity.
(previously titled “Renewing Calm”)
This collection of tools is designed to help you renew your capacity for your life and for your creative projects. I started it at the very beginning of the pandemic, because I figured there was a need for it.
Shelbish Glossary.
I talk about writing in my own way, and when I repeat a term often enough, I define it in my own way to explain exactly what I mean.
Other Offerings
Seasons.
These are craft classes, intended for any storyteller (aged 10 and up). Developing a life-long skillset is a slow build, so I call them seasons—they take a while, and accordingly, I space out the content over several weeks or months, giving readers time to digest and integrate.
The Foundational Seasons are free on this site, but you will be able to purchase the e-book or audiobook version if you would like to support me and the Journeypen Project.
This first Season is People Are Stories-in-Progress, which is an exploration of the intersection between story structure and character development, both in fiction and in individuals.
Pathways.
These are intended for writers and/or creators who have been honing the craft for a while and they’re looking to find a path through an area troubling them. I don’t have an age limit on these. I would have been ready for some of them when I was seventeen or so (remember: I started writing novels at ten, so I would have had a fair amount of experience by then).
These are walk you through troubling territory and help you find a way through that is personal to you. They can be completed in an afternoon—or in a week. There is usually a recording, roughly an hour or more of content, plus some guidebooks to help you pave your own path through. Think of it like leaving the beaten path and taking a hike up a mountain. You’ll eventually see the problem area from a whole new perspective, and from that angle, you’ll better understand where you need to invest your attention, time, energy, and other resources.
One-on-One Containers
If you would like personalized advice from me, on any of the above or on a topic of your choosing, I have developed a couple containers for that. These are intended for adults writers only, specifically for those looking for advice on their particular path. If you are a young writer, please see my contact policy for the Community Q’s and Submit a Question form.
Renewing Your Creative Roots - Voice Letters.
This is best for those who have a question. It can be a long, complicated question, but this offering is really intended to focus on one question at a time. You submit the question to me, and I reflect on it for a time. Then I record a message back, like a voice letter or a mini-podcast of your own.
Renewing Your Creative Roots - Sessions.
This is intended for writers at a threshold of some kind, ready for some support as they cross into new territory—maybe you’ve finished the first draft of your book proposal or maybe you’re about to publish a debut novel after a decade of podcasting.
After you complete a questionnaire that helps me understand your situation better, we meet over Zoom and dive deep into what is coming up for you. After the session, I reflect for a time, and I record a message for you, like a voice letter or a mini-podcast of your own, which you can listen to as you go cross into your threshold.